Last May 13 concluded the Claretian Discerning Leadership Encounter offered to the teams of the provincial governments of ECLA, which had been taking place since May 1 in the Spirituality Centre of Vic (Barcelona).
After a first week of formation and experiences, the calendar of the workshop interrupted its progress on the rest day, Sunday, May 7: in the morning the ‘international Eucharist’ was celebrated in the Temple of Vic before a representative assembly of people, mostly Latin and African, habitual “parishioners” of our pastoral centre; after lunch, after passing through Sallent to greet the Claretian community and to visit the birthplace of Fr. Claret, the participants travelled to Manresa to visit the “Cova” of San Ignacio de Loyola.
Once again in Vic, from the morning of Monday 8, the planned programme was resumed, completing the proposed themes, which were:
– The management of government;
– Processes of change and transformation;
– Roles, skills and tools of leadership;
– Compassionate, generative and spiritual conversation;
– And dealing with polarities, conflicts and particular situations.
As in the first part of the workshop, all thematic presentations were complemented by personal and, for the most part, shared exercises. It should also be noted that all the days, including those of the first week, began with a moment of prayer which contained, in addition to a biblical text, a petition to God for a grace to be achieved, in connection with the theme being dealt with.
On Friday afternoon, 12 May, the participants were able to visit the Episcopal Museum and then the Vic Hostelry. Saturday 13th May, the last day of the workshop, was used to recapitulate the experiences and lessons learnt, with a prospecting to implement them in the different ECLA organisations.
On Saturday afternoon, via online connection, there was a meeting with the Superior General, Fr Mathew Vattamattam. Mathew Vattamattam. Through his encouraging words, some information about the Congregation was shared, and there was also time to exchange the reactions of the participants on the Workshop and to listen to their orientations and insistences.
After the session with Father General, three people presented specific topics: Joao Luis Escaleira presented the WYD Claret Way that will take place this coming summer in Lisbon; Louie Guades presented the workshop for the ‘cyber missionaries’, and Sebin Mundackal the CESC website.
The workshop officially concluded with dinner, preceded by a long time of prayer shared by the workshop participants at the end of the Saturday.
(Information provided by Juan Carlos Martos, cmf, director of the Centre of Claretian Studies of Vic).
(PHOTOS: Louie Guades III CMF)
